Preserving Integration Options for Latino Children: A Manual for Educators, Civil Rights Leaders, and the Community
Introduction
The impact of the United States Supreme Court June 2007 ruling in Parents Involved in Community Schools v. Seattle School District No. 1 and Meredith v. Jefferson County Board of Education (cases known as PICS) may soon be felt by your school district. At issue in these cases was the authority of local school districts to consider the race of individual students in taking voluntary actions to reduce racial and ethnic segregation and isolation in K-12 public schools. On behalf of 16 major Latino organizations, Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) submitted a brief to the Supreme Court in the PICS case to affirm the importance of voluntary integration plans to Latino students. MALDEF and the Civil Rights Project/Proyecto Derechos Civiles at UCLA can assist you in promoting and protecting educational opportunities for Latino children.
Latino students' rights to desegregated schools were recognized by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1973. There are a number of school districts that are under court order to desegregate. If your school district is under court order to desegregate, the PICS ruling has no effect on your school district as long as the court order is in place. However, when the court order is lifted, the PICS ruling will apply to your school district. If your school district is not under court order to desegregate, but has recognized the benefits of racial integration and has chosen to implement integration policies, the PICS ruling has significant implications for your school district. The PICS ruling limits voluntary desegregation plans. The likely effect of the PICS ruling is continued increased levels of segregation of Latino students in inferior schools.
In addition to increased school segregation by race and poverty, there may also be a corresponding increase in school districts subject to state sanctions for the low academic achievement levels of racially isolated minorities. This document will explain the effects of the PICS ruling and how school board members can continue to use lawful policies, like those outlined by Justice Kennedy in the PICS opinion, to further the important goals of decreasing racial isolation, promoting diversity, and furthering equal educational opportunity in our public schools.
